{"id":14234,"date":"2026-01-21T06:19:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=14234"},"modified":"2026-01-21T06:19:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:19:18","slug":"irans-central-bank-using-vast-quantities-of-cryptocurrency-championed-by-farage-says-report-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=14234","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s central bank using vast quantities of cryptocurrency championed by Farage, says report | Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

Iran\u2019s central bank appears to have been using vast quantities of a cryptocurrency championed by Nigel Farage<\/a>, according to a new report.<\/p>\n

Elliptic, a crypto analytics company, said it had traced at least $507m (\u00a3377m) of cryptocurrency issued by Tether \u2013 a company touted by the Reform UK leader \u2013 passing through accounts that appear to be controlled by Iran\u2019s central bank.<\/p>\n

Elliptic\u2019s report tracked what it says is the Iranian central bank\u2019s \u201csystematic accumulation\u201d of Tether stablecoins, a type of crypto that is pegged to the dollar so it can easily be exchanged for hard currency.<\/p>\n

This pointed to \u201ca sophisticated strategy to bypass the global banking system\u201d, perhaps to trade or to prop up the rial, Iran\u2019s currency.<\/p>\n

With thousands confirmed dead in the brutal suppression of protests<\/a>, the Iranian regime\u2019s apparent use of Tether\u2019s stablecoins raises questions for Farage about his support for the cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

In September, Farage revealed he was planning to raise Tether during a meeting with the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
\nQuick Guide<\/span><\/p>\n

Contact Tom Burgis about this story<\/h4>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Show<\/span><\/span><\/summary>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n
\n

If you have something to share on this subject you can contact Tom using one of the following methods.<\/p>\n

Email (not secure)<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you don’t need a high level of security or confidentiality you can email tom.burgis@theguardian.com.<\/p>\n

Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n

If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019.<\/p>\n

To send a message to Tom please choose the \u2018UK Investigations\u2019 team.<\/p>\n

SecureDrop and other secure methods<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finally, our guide at theguardian.com\/tips<\/a>\u00a0lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/svg>Illustration: Guardian Design \/ Rich Cousins<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n

<\/gu-island><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to go tomorrow to say this,\u201d Farage told LBC<\/a> radio. \u201cYou know, Tether is a stablecoin. Stablecoins are the way which money goes from conventional currencies through into cryptocurrencies and back again. Tether is about to be valued as a $500bn company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farage criticised Bailey for imposing restrictions on crypto and urged the UK to catch up with the US, where Donald Trump, who chose Howard Lutnick, Tether\u2019s banker, as his commerce secretary, has reversed efforts<\/a> to police digital currencies.<\/p>\n

Farage added: \u201cYou know, stablecoins, crypto \u2013 this world is enormous, and I\u2019ve been urging for years that London should embrace it. We should become a global trading centre for this stuff, under proper regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Tether\u2019s major shareholders, the tech investor Christopher Harborne<\/a>, is Reform\u2019s biggest donor. His lawyers said Harborne, who does not hold an executive post at Tether, is not responsible for illicit activities by its users. Suggestions that Harborne profits from Iran\u2019s use of Tether stablecoins were \u201cbaseless drivel\u201d, the lawyers said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Reform UK said \u201cmany companies and organisations across the globe\u201d use Tether. They added: \u201cAll donations to Reform UK comply with electoral law and regulations. We stringently vet each donation. We continue to actively support the Iranian people in their fight for freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Booming demand for Tether\u2019s stablecoin \u2013 known as USDT \u2013 has generated huge returns from the real-currency reserves the company holds to maintain its peg to the dollar. Tether\u2019s $13bn annual profits are one-and-a-half times those of McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Some of that demand comes from illicit sources<\/a>. In the face of US, UN and other sanctions that make it difficult to trade, buy foreign currency and hold accounts with most banks, it seems Iranians and their rulers have turned to Tether\u2019s stablecoins.<\/p>\n

Last year, Israel revealed<\/a> what it said were dozens of crypto accounts used by Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards.<\/p>\n

That prompted a prominent Iranian businessman to complain on X about the regime\u2019s failure to keep its dealings secret. His post contained two crypto account numbers<\/a> the businessman said were used by Iran\u2019s central bank.<\/p>\n

It was through this apparently inadvertent disclosure that Elliptic\u2019s researchers found connections between 50 accounts, concluding with a \u201chigh level of confidence\u201d that they were controlled by Iran\u2019s central bank.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Graphic showing quantity of Tether stablecoins linked to account said to be tied to Iran\u2019s central bank<\/a><\/figure>\n

<\/gu-island><\/p>\n

A Tether representative did not address questions about Iranian central bank use of its stablecoins, but said: \u201cTether maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward the criminal use of our financial products.\u201d<\/p>\n

The representative said Tether followed US sanctions guidelines. \u201cWe work closely with law enforcement globally to identify and promptly, upon request, freeze assets to prevent further movement whenever they are identified to be in connection to illegal activity or illicit actors.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added that Tether has collaborated with more than 310 law enforcement agencies across 62 countries and frozen more than $3.4bn in assets \u201clinked to criminal activity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tether has frozen the suspected Revolutionary Guards accounts identified by Israel last year but most of those that appear to have been used by the Iranian central bank seem to remain active.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Irans #central #bank #vast #quantities #cryptocurrency #championed #Farage #report #Iran<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran\u2019s central bank appears to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}